Identity Crisis
by childofthegirlwhowouldbequeen
Summary: A month after Penny "dies" Dr. Horrible plans to overthrow the mayor of the city. The only thing getting in his way is his new arch enemy Red. But the thing is Penny isn't dead. She is very much alive and is making headlines again. Though not for being alive. No, for being Red.
1. Hello Jell-O

Penny felt like she was spinning around on her toes, everything she could see was off kilter. Captain Hammer's nemesis, Dr. Horrible, was crouching next to her, his hands cradling her face. She noted the panic in all three of his faces.

"_It's okay, Captain Hammer will save us…"_

X

Awaking from a coma to find that you had been dead for the past month wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. It was like the newspapers didn't even bother to follow up on what had happen once she was driven off in the ambulance. Not they had bothered to find out who she was when she dated Captain Hammer. She was just "what's her face."

Penny put the newspaper titled _Dr. Horrible Kills Innocent Ginger _on the bedside table and threw herself back on her bed. She didn't even remember what had happened that faithful night. It was all a blur of screams and bursts of red light.

"Hey Penny I got some Jell-O for you."

From the sliding door came a young Asian woman, her long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She placed the tray in her friend's lap and crashed on the seat next to her, putting her legs up on Penny's bed. She turned on the T.V. and the whole room erupting with noise.

"Thank you Meagan." Penny chirped, picking up a green piece of Jell-O with her fingers.

"The Doctor said you'd be able to leave in a few days." Meagan said nonchalantly over the T.V, "Isn't that great?"

Penny nodded, her mouth full of Jell-O. Her mind reeled with all the things she would do once she got out. A near death experience really puts your life in perspective. She defiantly would be going to the Caring Hands center first off. She wondered if Captain Hammer let it all go to hell after she "died." He had never been too enthusiastic about it, he was more interested about getting in her pants.

After that she'd have to find Billy. She smiled to herself. Her sweet, awkward, and a little bit cynical friend Billy. She missed their times together at the Coin Wash, sitting on top of the washers and eating yogurt. The way he would stare at her when he thought she wasn't looking and their long conversations about nothing.

As she shoveled more Jell-O into her mouth she wondered if Billy thought she was dead. Who was she kidding it was probably was all over the news. That truly awful Dr. Horrible had to go and ruin everything.

X

"What are you say?" Penny cried out.

"I'm saying that someone else lives here miss." The landlady said, clearly irritated. She had come out of her complex in a very unprofessional attire, shower robe and hair up in a towel. Her mascara was bleeding and her lips looked blood stained from poorly applied lipstick. "And besides, the woman who lived here before has been dead for a month."

"She's not dead, I'm right here!" Penny pleaded.

Her stomach turned and she felt the stitches on her stomach flair up. She gasped for air and clenched her stomach in pain. Meagan placed her hand on Penny's shoulder, "Are you alright?"

Penny turned to her, looking defeated. Meagan scowled. "Well she doesn't want to live this shit hole anyway." Pulling a startled Penny away from the apartment complex they made their way down the road.

"You didn't have to do that…" Penny said shyly.

"Of course I did, what are friends for if they don't stick up for their buds." Meagan said, bumping Penny at the hip.

They walked for a long time, the city lights illuminating their way. Penny's stomach hurt from yelling and excess walking but she didn't say anything.

She followed behind Meagan, who was walking a few feet in front of her. Meagan reminded her of those kids who played follow the leader religiously. Being around her again made the memories of high school bubble up. Meagan and her use to pull all-nighters watching movies instead of doing homework and skip test days because they were never ready.

"You can stay with me if you want." Meagan said, snapping Penny out of her trance.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be little cramped but we can make it work." Meagan smiled. She was always such a generous person.

"Thanks Meg, what would I do without you?"

"Crash and burn."

Penny laughed, even though it hurt.

As they trekked on Penny swore she saw from the corner of her eye a local bank's windows had been shattered and boarded up. Then spray-painted over them the words _HORRIBLE WAS HERE._

* * *

Here is the first chapter ;-) I never really liked having side characters that weren't part of the real story but I needed someone to get Penny on her feet. So Meg was born. She's Penny's high school friend who works at Olive Garden. I have a lot of Asian friends so I think that's why I chose to make her Asian, they are just the coolest people ever.

I'm really excited about this story. I was just really sad after watching the musical. I mean it was great and everything but it just broke my heart. So this is me coping with it. And as always all rights go to the Whedon family.


	2. Stir Crazy

"How do you feel about left over pasta?" Meagan asked as she pulled her arm out of the sleeve of her uniform.

"That's cool." Penny chirped from the couch. For the past few weeks she had been sleeping on Meagan's couch, which she had decorated with pillows and old blankets that smelled like lint.

Meagan pushed Penny's legs off the couch and plopped down next to her with the plastic container to share between them. She always said the only good thing about working at Olive Garden was that the cook would let her take the left over food home every so often.

They ate in silence, enjoying the cheesy Italian delicacy until Meagan brought up _him_.

"So…have you called Hammer?"

Penny chocked on her pasta.

"Ah–no…I wasn't planning to." She said between coughs. Penny had just sort of assumed that they had broken up after she "died." The more she thought back to the times she spent with Hammer the more it made her stomach curl. Yeah, he was good at being hero and all but boyfriend wise there was much to be desired. He made her feel small and insignificant.

Meagan twirled a glob of pasta around her fork and poked Penny with it, "He might want to know you're alive Penny."

Penny let her gaze wander. Meg didn't understand that Captain Hammer's ego was bigger then the entire solar system. So instead of answering Penny changed the subject, "I called Caring Hands today."

"Oh," Meagan said, obviously sad that they were not going to continue with Hammer, "How are they doing down there?"

"Great! Seems like they have an anonymous donor who's been funneling money in. It's truly amazing how generous people can be."

X

Two weeks had passed since moving in with Meagan and Penny was getting stir crazy. Her Doctor had given her strict orders not to do anything too strenuous so she had barely left the couch but by doing so she had doomed herself to a life of boredom. She had been passing the time with complex puzzles of puppies and bad romance movies. Apparently in the time she hadn't seen Meg her friend had acquired a taste for tacky romances.

When she could take no more of the Romeo and Juliet drama she grabbed the channel changer and clicked the T.V. on, hoping to find something to numb her brain.

_"Back to you Robin for what's happening in your neck of the woods." _

Slouching back in the couch she scowled, wishing her eyes could burn holes into the newscasters face. But just as she was about to change the channel it focused on the bank she'd seen the night she'd been kicked out of her apartment.

_"It seems that we're looking at another strike by Dr. Horrible. Here at West Bank alone he has stolen over three thousand dollars. His crime record is off the charts and has left us all wondering where Captain Hammer is."_

So Dr. Horrible was still making headlines, she thought. The newscasters flashed a picture of Horrible on the screen, which wasn't the white clad maniac she remembered. His whole outfit was extremely gloomy, from the red lab coat to his matching black gloves. It wasn't the most attractive picture she'd ever seen, he looked like he hadn't slept for weeks and his skin sickly white.

As the news lady wrapped up the report the bank Penny flipped the channel to a rerun of _Friends_, hoping to forget about Dr. Horrible and his crimes.

X

After about month Penny was on the verge of throwing herself out the window.

She could never find a comfortable position on the couch and she'd done every puzzle and watched every show there was to watch. Ever.

"I'm just going to go to the Coin Wash." Penny assured Meagan on a sunny Sunday morning over cereal.

"Are you sure, I can totally do the laundry. I don't want you to do anything that'll end up putting you back in the hospital."

Penny just shook her head and zipped up her red hoodie. She threw her bowl of mushy Lucky Charms in the sink and grabbed their bag of laundry. Waving to Meagan as she exited the apartment she rushed down the stares to freedom feeling more happy then she'd been in a long time.

* * *

I had a hard time writting this chapter , I think its because I am still just trying to set up everything for when Penny sees Dr. Horrible for the second time. *Hint hint* Next chapter Penny's going to run in Dr. Horrible! I am excited. Red will soon be born! Love you all!


	3. Red Hoodies

Moist lugged a large machine into a dark alley just across the police station, muttering angrily to himself about how Dr. Horrible could have at least put some wheels on the stupid contraption or made it lighter.

"Hurry up Moist, we're running out of time!" Dr. Horrible yelled. He was tapping his foot from the shadows, not looking at Moist but at the policemen going in and out of the station.

"Tell me again why were doing this sir?" Moist asked between gasps.

Dr. Horrible wasn't even fazed by his question, his eyes were glued to the station. When Moist pushed the machine completely into the darkness Dr. Horrible forced him out of the way and began to tinker with the switches.

"Sir?"

"Oh–um…" Dr. Horrible stuttered, "You know, the usually, wreaking havoc, causing chaos."

For a while after _her_ Dr. Horrible couldn't even stomach attempting world domination. There was no point if his lovely red head wasn't at his side. But with all of the League's resources it was hard to resist. And besides if he had to be miserable shouldn't everybody?

As far as Moist knew though, this was just another heist. His henchman had been left in the dark about his evil plans. And those plans involved certain documents that were stashed in that police station. With this machine Dr. Horrible intended to get them. It was a remarkable little invention that he was quiet proud of. It made people repeat what they were doing over and over, so he could just waltz right in and no one could stop him.

"Fire up the….ugh…Repeater."

For such a wondrous machine it had an awful name. Lately Dr. Horrible had been having a creativity block when it came to names and had enlisted Moist's help. But all Moist could come up with was Repeator, which had made Dr. Horrible cringe. But since he couldn't come up with anything better that's what it ended up being called.

The Repeator rumpled and shook. Then a blinding glow began to emit from it. The two of the villains put space between them and the machine in fear that they'd get burned. Dr. Horrible pulled his goggles over his eyes and Moist attempted to shield his eyes with his hands.

But then the Repeator groaned and died. Dr. Horrible cried out in anger and ran toward then machine in horror. "What the hell happened!"

Moist uncovered his eyes to see in the distant a red blur making its way down the ally. "Sir look!" He shouted.

Dr. Horrible turned just in time to see the blur disappear behind a building. "Well," He yelled. "After them!"

X

A breeze tickled Penny's face and blew through her hair, sending it blowing behind her. She felt so liberated. No longer did she have to be in that cramped apartment. After the Coin Wash maybe she'd get a soda or drop by the Caring Hands. She felt like anything was possible.

With all the good feelings bubbling up from inside her mind wondered to the idea of maybe being so luck y to run into Billy. What would she say? She stopped right there in the middle of her walk to contemplate what she'd say. How best do you explain how your alive when the newspapers all over said you were murdered?

"Hey Billy, yeah I know I'm suppose to be dead but – no, no that sounds stupid" Penny said, hitting herself over the head. "Guess who cheated death –ugh maybe…"

"Come on, before someone sees you!"

Penny jumped out of her trance, startled.

"Its heavier than it looks…"

"Hurry up!"

The sound of yelling from around the corner caught her attention and pulled her in. Penny dropped her pretend conversation with Billy and tuned in.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"We're running out of time!"

Curiosity got the best of Penny so she inched forward to hide behind a building to see what was happening. Her heart dropped when she saw Dr. Horrible glaring angrily at someone, his arms crossed and his face strained. Leaning farther out to get a better look she noticed another person drenched in what seemed like sweat pushing some strange machine. That can't be good, she thought.

She placed her laundry down and listened intently, knowing that whatever he had planned wouldn't be good. Penny's mind reeled with what to do, should she call the police and warn them? Should she call Hammer? No. None of those were viable answers right now, even if she wished they could be.

Stiffening up her back she took in one last breath of air and prayed that she made it through this without getting stabbed for a second time. She was either the craziest or the dumbest person alive. Dr. Horrible and the other person where no were near the glowing machine when she made her way toward it. Penny bit her lip, she probably only had a few seconds before this thing went into action.

She grabbed the keyboard with both her hands and pulled as hard as she could tell the thing came completely off. Wow, she thought, that was strangely easy to tamper with. She then pulled cord after cord out tell the machine sort wired and the glowing died away. Pulling her hoodie over her head to hide her face she made a run for it, leaving her laundry behind.

X

"Did you catch them?" Dr. Horrible asked Moist as he made his way back a tired mess. He collapsed on the floor, shaking his head.

"Honestly Moist…"

Moist put his hands over his face and mumbled curse words under his breath.

* * *

I can't think of good names for machines, I'm sorry. This is how Red is born. I love writing for Dr. Horrible, he is the greatest. Honestly he is funny and evil and awkward and ugh. I really can't wait for more interaction with Penny and her.

Also just another note Captain Hammer is in this story too! He has a funny role, I can't wait to introduce him :-) as always love you all. Kisses.


	4. White Lies

Coming up with a cover up story to convince Meagan that she hadn't left their laundry sitting on the side of the road was more challenging than Penny thought. She knew that if she said straight out that she'd ran into Dr. Horrible Meg would have a fit. The last thing Meagan wanted was for Penny to be out getting shot at by a nut who had his head screwed on backwards.

"So tell me what happened again." Meagan said, pinching the bridge of her noise with her fingers.

Penny sat with her hands between her legs. She couldn't look Meagan in the eyes and tell her story at the same time without seeming like a liar, "I was jumped." The words tumbled out of her mouth as if she'd been repeating the phrase over and over again in front of mirror.

"And all he wanted was our laundry? Not your wallet or anything…you know, valuable?" Meagan asked, clearly not buying it.

"I never said it was a guy!" Penny blurted out. Megan raised her eyebrow and Penny tried to cover up her rambling in a fit of panic, "And I don't know, maybe they were in dire need of some clothes. It's a hard life for them Meg….it can get really chilly at night."

Meagan just shook her head. "I–whatever. You know what it doesn't matter. I got to be in work in thirty minutes and I can't be late again."

Penny watched as Meagan grabbed her uniform from the table and marched to her room, slamming the door behind her.

X

The Repeater was stored back into Dr. Horrible's inconspicuous black van by Moist as Dr. Horrible sat against the brick wall, fuming. There was no way some average citizen could have stopped him. He ripped his goggles off his head and threw them into the air in a fit of rage. He was so close and now he was going to have to explain to the League why the Repeater didn't work.

A loud crashing noise echoed through the ally but Dr. Horrible didn't get up, he just yelled at Moist to be careful with the machine. He didn't want to damage the damn thing any further.

"The Repeater is secure sir." Moist shouted a few minutes later from the back of the van. Dr. Horrible lifted himself up and proceeded to get his goggles from the floor that they could leave.

It was then when he noticed a duffle bag sitting just a few feet away from where his goggles had landed.

"Hey Moist, come here!" He yelled.

Moist appeared, exhausted from all the manual he'd been doing all day.

"Open that…" Dr. Horrible demanded, pointing to the bag. Moist looked at it with a mix of confusion and horror.

"Why don't you?" He asked.

"Because there might be a bomb in it and I'm the villain, you're the henchman, it's your job." He said pushing Moist at the bag. "Now come on!"

Moist unzipped the bag and out came clusters of pink blouses and turquois skirts. Dr. Horrible pulled out a black-laced bra, preceded to shriek and tossed it back into the bag. His face was flustered and then suddenly it all clicked.

"We were outwitted by a girl!"

X

Penny watched as the credits of _Sixteen Candles_ ran down the television. It was her third film of the night and she was pretty sure it was already three in the morning. Meagan had gone to her room about an hour or so ago so she'd been alone for quiet some while.

Not matter what she did she couldn't get Dr. Horrible out of her mind. Penny rubbed her hands across her stomach, feeling the jagged bumps where the stitches were. She let her eye close and the music wash over her. The world around her faded and all of the sudden she was in a different room. There were people screaming and scattering as they attempted to make their way toward the door. And in the middle of the scene was a man clad in white crouching below a tall, beefy looking guy with a gun. All Penny could think was _no, don't do it_. But before she could say anything the world exploded into a burning red light.

When Penny awoke she was on the ground, her face drenched in sweat and her stomach flaring.

* * *

Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I was having a hard time trying to come up with a transition chapter. But now we are going to get a roll on.

I'm also very thankful for the reviews on my story. Happy you are enjoying it. This is really my first time writing a story like this so I'm super glade you guys are enjoying it. Also anyone like _Sixteen Candles_? I love that movie, its so cute! I have a friend that looks just like the main girl! Its crazy.


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